This invention relates generally to sighting devices for archery bows, firearms, or other projectile launching devices, and more particularly to an illuminated sighting device having reflective sight dots for superimposing on a target during aiming.
Reflex sights typically include a partially reflective lens and a battery-powered light source that projects light onto the reflective lens to define a reticule or reflex dot which is superimposed on a target as viewed through the lens. The reticule in these types of sights tends to obscure large areas of the target at longer ranges, may be marginally visible in bright daylight conditions, and too bright in lower light conditions. Additionally, since such sights typically have a single reticule that must be adjusted on the fly for different target distances, the user's ability to quickly superimpose the reticule on a target at varying distances is limited.
In an effort to overcome these problems, several improvements have been proposed. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,234, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,034 disclose reflex sights with either a fluorescent-doped fiber optic or light pipe that receives ambient light along its length and transmits that light to its ends. Light projecting from one of the ends is incident on a lens as a reflex dot or reticule that can be superimposed on a target. With this arrangement, the light intensity of the reflex dot is directly dependent on the ambient light level. However, due to their complicated shape, the fiber optics can be difficult to manipulate, shape and position on the sight housing, leading to increased manufacturing time and expense. Again, such sights only provide a single reflex dot and therefore limit the user's ability to quickly position the dot on a target at varying distances.
Other non-reflex sights have been proposed with multiple vertically stacked sight points. However, many of these sights unduly obscure a user's view of the target and/or may not be separately adjustable to accommodate a user's particular bow, arrow type, and shooting style for varying target distances or heights. Some of these vertically stacked sights are not illuminated and therefore may be difficult to use in low light conditions. In addition, such sights also require a separate peep sight or the like to maintain consistency in bow orientation with respect to the shooter from shot to shot. It would therefore be desirable to provide an illuminated reflective sighting device that overcomes at least some of the disadvantages of the prior art.